ThinkPad won't work without power cable

Ages ago, I was given an old IBM ThinkPad. Until now I've not really had a use for it, so it's been sitting on my desk for some time. Now that I've come to use it, however, I've found that it doesn't seem to work at all on battery power; the power cable has to be plugged in at all times. If I unplug the cable, it turns off immediately.

Apparently this was not the case when it was given to me. As far as I can tell, the sudden problem could be hardware-related (due to the laptop being left alone on its side for so long), or software-related (since I've just done a factory restore).

When plugged in, the battery light does all sorts of things. If I wriggle the battery about a bit, I can make the light change. Sometimes it flashes amber, other times it stays amber, and if I'm lucky (usually after turning amber), it will turn green. However, I've left it plugged in in the flashing amber and green states overnight, with no luck.

If I start it up, the Power Manager bar in the taskbar has a red cross over it, with the message, "Battery Error detected", if the light is flashing amber. If the light is green, it shows 10% power, but it still turns itself off if I remove the power cable.

When using the Automated Battery Tool to determine if it was being recalled, I got the message, "The battery bar code format is not recognised."

That's all the background I can think of for now but if you need more information, just ask.

Here's some numbers:

Model: 1844ETG
Battery: N14608

Literally any help would be appreciated,

Thanks,

- B

 

I'd say it's time for a new battery.

 

It can sometimes seem illogical how a 2 lb brick of electro chemicals which used to power a laptop for 5 hours can no longer power it for 1 second. But this is what happens to batteries

 

Try it and that way you will have eliminated a major possility.
Renee

 

It sure sounds like the battery is the problem, but they all seem to be priced at around £60!!

I just wish I could be sure.

 

you got the R51e machine, you can always get a compatible battery pack and not the OEM one.

If you are not going to use the laptop as a portable workstation, then i would suggest you just use it as it is without battery.